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China’s consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of inflation, edged up 0.2 percent year on year in January, official data showed Wednesday.
The headline CPI growth moderated from a 0.8-percent increase in the previous month, largely due to base effects linked to the timing of the Chinese New Year and a sharper decline in energy prices, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Last year’s Spring Festival fell in January, pushing up food and some service prices and resulting in a higher comparison base. As a result, food prices fell 0.7 percent year on year in January 2026, subtracting about 0.11 percentage points from the CPI, NBS statistician Dong Lijuan explained.
Energy prices dropped 5.0 percent, shaving roughly 0.34 percentage points off the headline CPI, the data showed.
Despite the softer headline reading, underlying inflation showed signs of improvement in January. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.8 percent year on year, indicating a continued moderate recovery in consumer demand.
On a month-on-month basis, core CPI increased 0.3 percent, the fastest pace in nearly six months, the data showed.